CHAPTER 3 Job Analysis

Introduction to Industrial/Organizational Psychology by Ronald Riggio

Personnel Psychology Personnel psychology, a specialty area of

I/O psychology, is concerned with the creation, care, and maintenance of a workforce.

I/O psychologists who specialize in personnel psychology are involved in: Employee recruitment and selection. Measurement of employee performance and

establishment of good performance review procedures.

Development of employee training programs. Formulation of criteria for promotion, firing,

and disciplinary action.

Job Analysis Job analysis is the systematic study of:

a job's tasks, duties, and responsibilities, and the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform the job.

Job analysis is the starting point for many important personnel functions.

A job analysis yields several products such as a job description and job specification.

Job Analysis Products

1. Job description A detailed accounting of job tasks,

procedures, responsibilities, and output.

2. Job specification Information about the physical,

educational, and experiential qualities required to perform the job.

Job Analysis Products

3. Job evaluation An assessment of the relative value

of jobs for determining compensation.

4. Performance criteria Work and performance outcomes

required by the job that serve as a basis for appraising successful job performance.

Job Analysis Methods Job analysis methods include

observation, the use of existing data, interviews, surveys, and job diaries.

Each method has strengths and weaknesses.

In addition to these general methods for conducting job analysis, there are also a number of specific, standardized techniques.

Specific Job Analysis Techniques

Job Elements MethodA broad approach to job analysis that

focuses on the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) required to perform a particular job.

Relies on subject matter experts (SMEs)

Specific Job Analysis Techniques Functional job analysis (FJA) is a

method that has been used to classify jobs in terms of workers’ interaction with data, people, and things.

Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT)

Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)

Specific Job Analysis Techniques

The DOT has been replaced by the Occupational Information Network (O*NET; www.onetcenter.org)

Functional job analysis is helpful when the job analyst must create job descriptions for a large number of positions.

Specific Job Analysis Techniques

The Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) assesses several qualities of jobs: Information inputMental processesWork outputRelationships with other personsJob contextOther job characteristics

Specific Job Analysis Techniques

The Critical incidents technique (CIT) records specific worker behaviors that have led to particularly successful or unsuccessful instances of job performance.

Job incumbents usually provide examples of critical incidents.

Job Analysis and the ADA

Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)Requires that employers prevent

employment discrimination against disabled persons.

Requires employers to understand “essential elements” of a job.

Job Evaluation and Comparable Worth Job analysis yields a job evaluation, or

an assessment of the relative value of a job, and is used to determine appropriate compensation.

These evaluations usually examine jobs on dimensions that are called compensable factors (e.g., physical demands of a job, amount of training, working conditions, responsibility).

Job Evaluation and Comparable Worth

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 mandates that men and women performing equal work receive equal pay.

However, women continue to make less than men. Women make about 75% of what men make.

Job Evaluation and Comparable Worth Why is there a wage gap between men

and women?Men have greater access to higher

paying jobs.Women are paid less than men for

performing equivalent tasks. Similar jobs may have different titles and

different ranks depending on the sex of the worker (e.g., “records manager” vs. “personnel clerk”).

Job Evaluation and Comparable Worth

Comparable worthThe idea that jobs that require equivalent

knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) should be compensated equally.

Relies on valid and fair job evaluations.

ExceptioningThe practice of ignoring pay

discrepancies between particular jobs possessing equivalent duties and responsibilities.